rest in peace ronnie

At this point, it’s no secret that I am one of only 15 Republicans living here in Los Angeles.

Our 40th President’s passing reminded me of being a non-political 8 year old who fell in love with the eloquent, intelligent and optimistic man who was to replace the peanut farmer.

After watching in horror this afternoon as Tom Brokaw struggled to say something/anything nice about Reagan, I must offer my props to our local NBC newscasters. It takes class and they had it in spades.

MOXIE, i am now a registered libertarion. but, from 1984-1999 i was the 16th registered rebublican in heLA.

fiscally conservative, socially liberal=libertarian

i saw reagan speak in northern california when i was only 19 and it was an incredible experience. say what you will about him, he restored pride to our nation after many years of not-so inspired leadership, questionable economic policies, outrageous inflation (you think gas costs a lot now) and a bunch of sand kicking in the face by much of the world.

He fostered a change in American culture that made us as a nation more selfish, prideful and ignorant of our place in the world community – a legacy that allowed enough of us to follow Bush Jr. blindly into a wrongful war that has now made the world *less* safe for Democracy and American ideals.

As for “ending the Cold War” – Reagan shrewdly surfed a wave of dissent that had already begun in eastern Europe and the USSR before he even took office, and then took credit for it crashing on the shore.

In the wake of his death, the world has put on the beer goggles and forgotten his role in subverting the constitution (Iran-Contra) and wrecking the economy with tax cuts and deficit spending (remember the late 80s and early 90s? GM? Lockheed? L.A. had a few more high-tech manufacturing jobs before Reaganomics got done with it …) He was not the complete disaster of a president that Bush is today. Nor is he the varnished saint that this week’s obit writers (excepting the LAT’s thorough and balanced Doyle McManus, who co-wrote a brilliant book that said that Nancy, Don Regan and James Baker were essentially running the presidency as Reagan grew increasingly wiftier during his second term) are making him out to be.